Connecticut companies announced $94.6 million in venture capital deals during the first half of this year, on par with deal totals in the same period last year, according to the latest MoneyTree Report from PwC and CB Insights.

Deal activity, however, slowed considerably in the second quarter with only three deals worth $8.7 million, the worst second quarter on record since 2009. The biggest deal of the quarter ended June 30 was New Haven biotech Cybrexa Therapeutics, which landed $6 million from investors, including Connecticut Innovations.

The weak second quarter followed the state's strongest first quarter since 2009 — with 12 deals totaling $85.9 million. The largest second-quarter deals included Norwalk's Owlstone Medical ($16.5 million) and South Windsor's Oxford Performance Materials ($10 million).

Among New England states, Connecticut lags behind only Massachusetts, which recorded $3.22 billion in venture deals during the first half of the year.

Across the country, there were 1,152 deals totaling $18.36 billion in investment during the second quarter. That was 108 more deals than in the same quarter a year ago, but down from $20.1 billion in total value.

Nationally, deal values are also trending behind for the first half of the year totaling $32.81 billion, down from $36.04 billion in the first half of 2016.